BOSTON – Travis Browne wrapped up a victory at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 81 event, but at the post-fight press conference, he seemed to be still processing what exactly happened.

But as a veteran of the sport who’s been in more than a few of the post-fight media events, Browne (18-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) seemed to know the questions were coming, especially after two eye-pokes preceded an eventual third-round TKO victory over fellow heavyweight Matt Mitrione (9-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC).

While Mitrione’s eye was clearly messed up, Browne said it was fine until the fight-ending barrage of punches in the third round. UFC President Dana White quickly came to his defense and defended him.

“They showed it on the instant replay in slow motion, and before he hit him, it was fine,” White told MMAjunkie. “Before he hit him, his eye was fine. When he hit him? The eye started to swell up and blow right up.”

“Again, it’s one of those things where in the cage, I was apologizing up and down to Matt because that’s not my game,” said Browne, who’s ranked No. 5 in the MMAjunkie/USA TODAY Sports MMA heavyweight rankings. “I’m not a dirty fighter, and even in the fight, I’m like, ‘Matt, I’m really sorry. I promise you I’m not trying to do that (on purpose).'”

Browne said Mitrione seemed to understand the pokes weren’t intentional and that it was simply an unintended consequence of Mitrione charging in while Browne was backing up and putting up a defensive hand.

“You know, it’s a win – and it’s a win against a very unorthodox, tricky kind of guy,” Browne said. ” … It was a kind of funky fight. It’s kind of hard to look good against that guy.”

But after the bout, as well as before the event during the event’s open workouts, a few hecklers targeted Browne, who recently went public with his relationship with former champ Ronda Rousey. Browne seemed to shrug it off when asked about the boos.

“People can’t smash my dreams, so they try to assassinate my character,” he said. “That’s what people do what aren’t comfortable with themselves.”